Author Archives: greymadder
Craniotomy Part II: Surgery
My awake craniotomy was scheduled for 8 am on September 9, 2015. I felt well prepared. I got up early, to take advantage of the last window for nourishment, at 5:30 am and downed a big cup of homemade bone broth. I scrubbed clean using the antiseptic sponges provided by the hospital, including my newly […]
Craniotomy Part I: Preparation
I’ve known since May that I would be having brain surgery to remove as much of my brain tumour as possible. I’ve been fortunate to be seeing my rockstar surgeon (let’s call him Dr. F) for three years, since diagnosis, as we watched it for signs of progression. When we saw growth on my spring […]
My Awake Craniotomy Tales
Today I sit down to write. I haven’t done so for awhile. I’m a selfish blogger; I write when I want to, not according to any schedule. And today, I find my thoughts and attention are prepared and focused on telling you the story of what I’ve been up to over the past weeks. Readers […]
Anniversary Craniotomy
Today, August 14th, is the three year anniversary of the day I received the phone call from my neurologist directing me to the hospital, because he’d seen a glioma on my MRI scan. And as of today, we have a new plan. Awake craniotomy in September. (Updated to add – date will be September 9, […]
Pride and Progression
I feel compelled to tell you that I had a draft post ready to go entitled “Year Two of my Ketogenic Life”. One of the most popular posts here at Greymadder remains the Year One version. Over the past month, as I prepared to go for my six month MRI monitoring scan, I started drafting […]
Medicine, Science, Religion and Plagiarism
I was recently at a professional development event where respected NASA engineer Dr. James Brown enthusiastically advised attendees to “Plagiarize often and without shame!”. He admonished his audience to consider, when attempting to come up with an idea, whether one might in fact be the only human being in the history of human beings to come […]
Testing the Bunk – Credibility Checking Online
This is the number one question I get, right after “why are you so skinny if you eat 85% of your calories from fat?” (that answer is a different post altogether). The question is – “how do you know if something you read online is credible?” This is not a trivial problem, particularly if the advice […]
Practical 12-Gram Keto Meal Plans for Cancer: A Book Review
Over the two years I’ve spent on a ketogenic diet in an effort to prevent progression in a grade two brain tumour, the top thing that has frustrated me is finding information and recipes specific to cancer management. We are fortunate that there is a great deal of information available focused on the ketogenic diet, […]
Dropping the gloves in health debates
If you are a frequent follower of health related blogs and media, I think there’s one thing you and I can agree on, which is the frequency of disagreements. I’ll state my biases up front. I tend to follow sources in two categories: either personal journey, autobiographical writing that I find inspiring or creative, or […]
The Gift of Being Present
We hear a lot about this these days, right? Be present. Live in the now. Don’t stress over past regrets or future worries. Well, let me tell you, that’s a challenge when you’re wondering if you’re going to need chemotherapy next month. I mean, let’s be honest, we need to be able to plan some […]
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